The Golden State Warriors had a tremendous problem slowing down Pascal Siakam in Game 1 of the NBA Finals, and that simply has to change. It was a big blow to the ego of Draymond Green, who takes pride in being able to stop people. That is just one of the story lines surrounding Game 2, which is slated to begin at 8:05 PM ET at the Scotiabank Arena, home of the Toronto Raptors.

Toronto had great fortune shooting the basketball in the opener, hitting 50.6%, which included 39% from beyond the arc. And they had a man who was absolutely on fire. Siakam, who was taken down near the end of the first round when he first came into the NBA, had 32 points, powered by 14-for-17 marksmanship. And for most of that time, he was being guarded by Green, who won the league's Defensive Player of the Year award two seasons ago. Now Draymond has his sights set on making Siakam as much of a non-factor as possible.

And the Warriors may need a huge game from him, particularly on the defensive end, because frankly, we are not sure whether Andre Iguodala, who's got a calf injury, will be able to assume his spot in the starting lineup. Calf injuries are something that have been an irritation in the Golden State camp; Kevin Durant, who hasn't played since Game 5 against Houston, will be unavailable for Sunday night's game, although they hope he can be ready by Game 4.

In the NBA Finals betting odds posted on this game, with reduced juice at BetAnySports the Raptors are the slight favorites:

Toronto Raptors -2 (-107)
Golden State Warriors +2 (-103)

Over 214.5 points (-101)
Under 214.5 points (-109)

Aside from duking it out (figuratively speaking) with Siakam, Draymond found himself sparring a little with Drake, the rapper who exerts his own level of determination - to make himself part of the series. It may be a narcissistic pursuit, but he is clever enough to do a few things to get under the skin of people. For instance, he was wearing the Raptors jersey that had been donned by Steph Curry's father Dell.

Steph has ice water running through his veins, and Draymond strikes us as the kind of player who can feed off this kind of conflict. Remember that Green still had a triple-double in Game 1, even though he was victimized by Siakam.

DeMarcus Cousins got back to action for G-State, scoring three points in eight minutes. Steve Kerr said that the team might be ready to run more offense through him, but it's hard to tell what kind of impact he could possibly have in this series.

Durant could have an impact; that's for certain. After all, he has won the last two NBA Finals MVP awards and had the highest playoff scoring average at 34.2 points per game when he went down with his injury.

And you could see in the early going in Game 1 that when the Warriors' jump shots weren't falling, they missed KD's presence. This is not a team that is going to punish people in the paint, as they have taken only 40% of their shots in the playoffs from there.

The Warriors aren't likely to win the title with defense; in fact, their Defensive Rating is three points worse (on a per-100 possessions basis) than it was in the regular season. Certainly the offense has to click, and despite the Pace figure of 93.6, the Game 1 total soared "over."

Of course, that was the encouraging part here for Golden State here, as after recovering from cold shooting and general uncertainty on the offensive end in the first two quarters, they nailed 51.4% in the second half; theoretically, I guess, after they got warmed up.

And they have usually come out strong in the first half after suffering defeats in the playoffs, as they are 10-2 ATS in the last dozen in that situation. We can see that as a play, although it has to be a measured recommendation, because the NBA has assigned Tony Brothers as a referee, and Toronto is 15-1 with him as one of the officials (see THIS story for a little more detail on that).

With games involving Toronto, we've learned not to make a move until 9 AM ET, when those referees are announced by the league.

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